A running theme in The New York Times’ explosive story, published Thursday, chronicling decades of alleged abuse by Harvey Weinstein towards eager young actresses and employees, was the producer’s history as a friend and benefactor to progressive politicians and filmmakers alike. (Weinstein himself leaned on his liberal bona fides to make his case for redemption in the bizarre statement he initially released in response to the story; though he has denied many of the piece’s allegations and announced plans to sue the paper, he said he would seek treatment and take a leave of absence.) Among the most jarring details along such lines was Weinstein’s 2015 distribution, through the now-defunct subsidiary Radius, of The Hunting Ground, director Kirby Dick’s examination of rape and sexual assault on American college campuses.

After screening at Sundance in 2015, the Weinstein Company picked up the film and gave it a push that landed it on the shortlist for nominations for the 88th Academy Awards. Though The Hunting Ground ultimately failed to secure a nod in that category, Lady Gaga performed “Til It Happens to You,” which she had co-written for the film with Diane Warren, at the 2016 Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Original Song. The irony of having what could have been one of the last Weinstein-orchestrated Academy Awards campaigns come from a film about a hidden-in-plain-sight sexual-assault crisis, was lost on no one. Reached Thursday, the film’s producer, Amy Ziering, said she and Dick had minimal contact with Weinstein during the release of the documentary. Still, she said they were not surprised by the charges. About a year after working with Weinstein, Ziering said, she spoke to women who offered her their own allegations against Weinstein.

Neither, though, was Ziering stunned that the allegations were now coming to light, after years of rumors and deals had kept them at bay. (Over the years, according to the Times, Weinstein paid settlements to various women in the range of $80,000 to $150,000.) As she and Dick’s films have documented, and at times helped affect, there has been a historic cultural shift surrounding sexual harassment, abuse, and assault in recent years. While for decades women have endured verbal and physical assault in the workplace—usually at the hands of a boss or at least a man who has great power to affect their career—there was little they could do to right those wrongs. When the occasional brave soul did come forward—think Anita Hill—they were either blamed, shamed, or ignored.

“For the first time in our lifetimes, blame is finally shifting from victims to perpetrators,” Ziering said Thursday when reached by e-mail.

In the last several years, that reframing has helped unearth long-rumored allegations against media figures large and small, resulting in everything from the ousters of Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly from Fox News to the recent sexual-harassment scandal at Alamo Drafthouse, which has shown the film-geek world may be full of its own unacceptable behavior.

For decades, journalists covering the entertainment industry have been trying to nail down the details of Weinstein’s notorious bad behavior—a cornerstone in Hollywood gossip circles—but settlements and confidentiality agreements made it difficult to corroborate the stories. Among the handful of voices in the Times piece was Ashley Judd, who detailed an encounter with Weinstein in his hotel room while she was shooting 1997’s Kiss the Girls. She alleged to have deflected numerous advances from Weinstein, including the cringe-inducing request to watch him shower. Judd had previously detailed the encounter in Variety in 2015 without naming names. No longer. The linchpin to the Times piece was the acquisition of a 2015 internal memo written by employee Lauren O’Connor that documents her tenure at the company. O’Connor was one of the women with whom Weinstein settled, the Times said, citing records and accounts of those familiar with the agreements. (O’Connor declined the Times’ request for an interview.)

Ziering, whose previous film with Kirby, The Invisible War, uncovered multiple stories of sexual assault in the military, worries about what comes next for O’Connor and others who speak out. (According to LinkedIn, O’Connor works at Amazon Studios, which has had its own sexual-harassment scandal involving head Roy Price in recent weeks.) For every firing of an Ailes or an O’Reilly, there is a Donald Trump, whose admitted predatory behavior did not prevent his ascendance to the presidency.

“We live in a culture that can be exceptionally cruel to women—particularly women who in any way seek to challenge unbridled male power,” she said. “I hope that people are kind and compassionate towards her. . . . In fact, 92 to 97 percent of the time when women report a sexual assault they are telling the truth. This is statistically consistent with every other serious felony in our society. And yet this is the only crime, that when women report, they are viciously blamed and challenged.”

Still, for Ziering, things have changed dramatically, as shown by the reception of her two documentaries.

“When we started making The Invisible War in 2006, it was extremely hard to get funders on board to support the film. We were told time and again that no one was interested in women’s stories about rape,” she said. “I remember going into our first Sundance screening and one publicist yelling to ours: ‘Good luck with that rape film.’ But much to everyone’s surprise (including our own), [the film] took the festival by storm and went on to instigate five congressional hearings and lead to the passing of 35 pieces of legislation.”

She continued, “When we started making The Hunting Ground, students kept telling us that it was the courage of military persons speaking up that made them feel empowered to, themselves, come forward. It’s been a confluence of forces, but I think our two films combined with the unprecedented student movements and the work of advocates and organizations on the ground for decades has led to the cultural shift we are witnessing today.”

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Deakins’s first nomination came nearly two decades into his career, and after he had begun the collaboration with the Coen Brothers that would define his work. He lost to John Toll for Legends of the Fall; Toll won again the following year for his work on Braveheart.

Photo: From Photofest.

Fargo (1996)

Joel and Ethan Coen won their first Oscars for their screenplay for this crime thriller, and Frances McDormand won the best-actress statue. But despite capturing the unforgettable, wintry images that would later inspire an entire TV series of the same name, Deakins went home statueless; he, like nearly everyone else that night, lost to The English Patient, and specifically its cinematographer John Seale.

Photo: From Gramercy Pictures/Photofest.

Kundun (1997)

The visual splendor of Martin Scorsese’s film about the Dalai Lama was a major part of the film’s appeal, but unfortunately, it was limited: Kundun made just $5.6 million at the box office. Deakins lost the Oscar to yet another Oscar juggernaut: Titanic, and its cinematographer, Russell Carpenter.

Photo: From Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Capturing the Jim Crow south with an autumnal and just slightly surreal glow, Deakins and the Coens reteamed for one of the year‘s surprise indie hits. The soundtrack would win album of the year at the Grammys, but the Oscars weren’t quite as generous; Deakins lost to Peter Pau of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Photo: From Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection.

Prisoners (2013)

Deakins’s first collaboration with Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve starts off with a geographical miracle (it is set in Pennsylvania in the winter, but was filmed in Atlanta in the spring) and then presents a series of evocative images that absorb the audience in the story’s psychological drama. That year’s cinematography Oscar winner, though, may have been working with actual magic: Emmanuel Lubezki won his first of three consecutive Oscars for the “how did they do that?“ wonder of Gravity.

Photo: From Warner Bros/Everett Collection.

Unbroken (2014)

By the time of Unbroken, a nomination for Deakins was almost seen as a given for any film he works on, though the captivating imagery he brought to Angelina Jolie’s war epic stands with the best work in his career. The film was an Oscar underperformer, though, with just three nominations; Deakins lost to Lubezki again, this time for Birdman.

Photo: From Universal/Everett Collection.

Sicario (2015)

Deakins’s reunion with Villeneuve ratcheted up the emotional and visual intensity from Prisoners, telling the story of an F.B.I. agent in way over her head investigating Mexican drug cartels. Critics proclaimed (again) that Deakins was at the top of his game; Deakins lost (again) to Lubezki, winning his third Oscar in a row for The Revenant.

Photo: From Lions Gate/Everett Collection.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Deakins’s first nomination came nearly two decades into his career, and after he had begun the collaboration with the Coen Brothers that would define his work. He lost to John Toll for Legends of the Fall; Toll won again the following year for his work on Braveheart.

From Photofest.

Fargo (1996)

Joel and Ethan Coen won their first Oscars for their screenplay for this crime thriller, and Frances McDormand won the best-actress statue. But despite capturing the unforgettable, wintry images that would later inspire an entire TV series of the same name, Deakins went home statueless; he, like nearly everyone else that night, lost to The English Patient, and specifically its cinematographer John Seale.

From Gramercy Pictures/Photofest.

Kundun (1997)

The visual splendor of Martin Scorsese’s film about the Dalai Lama was a major part of the film’s appeal, but unfortunately, it was limited: Kundun made just $5.6 million at the box office. Deakins lost the Oscar to yet another Oscar juggernaut: Titanic, and its cinematographer, Russell Carpenter.

From Buena Vista Pictures/Photofest.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Capturing the Jim Crow south with an autumnal and just slightly surreal glow, Deakins and the Coens reteamed for one of the year‘s surprise indie hits. The soundtrack would win album of the year at the Grammys, but the Oscars weren’t quite as generous; Deakins lost to Peter Pau of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

From Buena Vista Pictures/Everett Collection.

The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

Deakins brought the stark black-and-white contrast of film noir style to a new century in one of the Coens’ darkest films, and one that divided audiences. Cinematography was the film’s sole Oscar nomination; the winner was Andrew Lesnie for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings.

From USA Films/Everett Collection.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

This is the year the legend of Roger Deakins, Underappreciated Genius truly begins to take shape. Andrew Dominik’s revisionist Western, made for a reported $30 million, earned a big-budget sheen thanks to Deakins‘s dazzling cinematography, capturing vivid landscapes and nighttime raids that became famous among film fans. But it wasn’t the only powerful examination of the West that year . . .

From Warner Bros/Everett Collection.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

. . . since this was also the year that Deakins worked with the Coens again on the eventual best-picture winner, No Country for Old Men. Nominated twice, Deakins likely effectively split his vote, and saw There Will Be Blood’s Robert Elswit take home the best-cinematography statue.

From Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock.

The Reader (2009)

Deakins shared credit with Chris Menges on the film that would win Kate Winslet her first Oscar. (The reported reason for the split is that Deakins filmed earlier sections of the film without Winslet, and Menges took over for her scenes due to scheduling conflicts.) Both lost to Anthony Dod Mantle, cinematographer of that year’s best-picture winner, Slumdog Millionaire.

From Weinstein Company/Everett Collection.

True Grit (2010)

Reunited with the Coen Brothers, Deakins presented a wholly different vision of the West than in his 2007 films, a vivid but beautiful place that matched the spirit of the film’s teenage heroine, played by Hailee Steinfeld. True Grit was a surprise box-office hit and a best-picture nominee, but it was hard to compete with the visual trickery of the best cinematography winner: Wally Pfister, for Inception.

From Paramount/Everett Collection.

Skyfall (2012)

Deakins has done one James Bond film, and he made it count, working with director Sam Mendes to create some of the most dazzling action set pieces in the franchise’s history (the fight in the skyscraper! The mansion on fire!) as well as images of natural beauty, as seen above. The cinematography was a major component of what made the film the most successful Bond entry yet, but it wasn’t quite enough to take down the cinematography Oscar winner that year, Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi.

From Columbia Pictures/Everett Collection.

Prisoners (2013)

Deakins’s first collaboration with Blade Runner 2049 director Denis Villeneuve starts off with a geographical miracle (it is set in Pennsylvania in the winter, but was filmed in Atlanta in the spring) and then presents a series of evocative images that absorb the audience in the story’s psychological drama. That year’s cinematography Oscar winner, though, may have been working with actual magic: Emmanuel Lubezki won his first of three consecutive Oscars for the “how did they do that?“ wonder of Gravity.

From Warner Bros/Everett Collection.

Unbroken (2014)

By the time of Unbroken, a nomination for Deakins was almost seen as a given for any film he works on, though the captivating imagery he brought to Angelina Jolie’s war epic stands with the best work in his career. The film was an Oscar underperformer, though, with just three nominations; Deakins lost to Lubezki again, this time for Birdman.

From Universal/Everett Collection.

Sicario (2015)

Deakins’s reunion with Villeneuve ratcheted up the emotional and visual intensity from Prisoners, telling the story of an F.B.I. agent in way over her head investigating Mexican drug cartels. Critics proclaimed (again) that Deakins was at the top of his game; Deakins lost (again) to Lubezki, winning his third Oscar in a row for The Revenant.